PdF on public safety

The PdF wants more personnel for the security agencies, including specialists in cybercrime and counterterrorism. This is to be paired with modern technology, digital workflows and smoother cooperation between the federal and state governments.

The PdF wants more staff for the police and other security agencies. This includes experts against online crime and terror. The agencies should get modern technology. The federal government and the states should work together better.

The plans include expanding IT infrastructure, new surveillance technologies and digital forensics tools. Internal processes from case handling to administration are to be digitized, with staff trained accordingly. Specialized cyber defense units are to be set up and continuously reinforced. Between the federal and state levels, the party wants to remove legal hurdles, create uniform procedures and communication channels, and speed up decisions.

The PdF rejects storing communications data without specific cause and instead backs the quick-freeze procedure when there is concrete suspicion. It also supports modernizing the Federal Police Act in a way that protects fundamental rights.

The PdF does not want data stored without a reason. It wants the quick-freeze method. With it, agencies secure data only when there is a suspicion. The law for the federal police should be updated.

The party views blanket retention as a disproportionate intrusion on fundamental rights, opposing the police union's calls for data retention and a minimum storage period for IP addresses. Under quick freeze, relevant data is secured only once there is concrete suspicion. International cooperation in investigations is to be strengthened. The platform considers the 1994 Federal Police Act outdated and wants an up-to-date revision.

The PdF wants to build up Germany's intelligence services so they can detect threats themselves rather than rely on tips from foreign agencies. To that end, staffing as well as technical and strategic capabilities are to grow.

The PdF wants to strengthen Germany's intelligence services. They should spot dangers early on their own. They should not depend on warnings from abroad. For this they should get more staff and better technology.

As an example of dependence, the platform cites attack plans against the Israeli embassy in Berlin that apparently came to light through foreign tips. The goal is an intelligence apparatus able to act without outside support. The services should be able to keep pace with modern terrorism and global cyber threats.

The PdF wants to fight extremism regardless of its ideological direction, whether right-wing, left-wing or religiously motivated. The security agencies are to be fully independent of politics in doing so.

The PdF is against all extremism. That covers right-wing, left-wing and religious extremism. The security agencies should work independently of politics. This is how the party wants to protect democracy.

The platform describes fighting extremism as a core task of domestic security. The aim is to protect the free democratic basic order and the safety of the population. As a precondition, the party names the political independence of institutions such as the police, the judiciary and the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency).

The PdF wants to make domestic violence a separate criminal offense and raise sentencing ranges. It also calls for awareness campaigns and mandatory training for certain professions. According to the platform, protection against gender-based violence should become a priority for society as a whole.

The PdF wants tougher punishment for violence at home and in relationships. There should be a separate law for this crime. Sentences should be higher. There should be more public information too. Doctors and lawyers should get training.

The platform says individual acts are currently judged separately, which often leads to lighter sentences. The PdF wants higher minimum and maximum sentences and wants to remove the provision on less serious cases in Section 177 of the Criminal Code. Psychological violence should be treated like physical violence when assessing severity and sentencing. People convicted of domestic or sexualized violence should lose custody of their children. Campaigns involving schools, media and public institutions should inform people about warning signs and support services. Staff in health care and legal professions should receive mandatory training.